Door operating mechanism



Feb, 17, 1953 H. F. MARTIN DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM INVENTOR.

HENRY f MH Original Filed Feb. 25, 1947 Patented Feb. 17, 1953 UNITED STATES DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Henry F. Martin, Center-line, Mich, assignor to Detroit Hoist and Machine Company, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Michigan 1 PATENT OFFICE Original application February 25, 1947, Serial No. 730,723. Divided and this application June 24,

1950, Serial No. 170,187

t 2 Qlaims. (Cl. 268-49) invention relates to a door operating ,-mechanism the object being to provide a new and improved mechanism which involves an overhead rail anda motor actuated mechanism for. moving a door or aseries of doors along a rail, the present application being a division of my copending application, Serial No. 730.723, filed February 25, 1947, now Patent No. 2,617,365, relating to Tractorsfor Use in Transportation of a Load.

. This. and other features and objects of the in- .vention are hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and the preferred form of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing in which- Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view showing my improved arrangement of doors and operating mechanism therefor.

, Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 33 of Fig. 1;

' and I Fig. 4 is a right end elevational view of Fig. 3.

It will be understood that the above drawing illustrates merely the preferred embodiment of the invention, and that other embodiments are 7 contemplated within the scope of the claims hereafter set forth.

the .motor mounting casing 3 is positioned and supported whereby energization of the motor l is t diqefiectr e pr cal m rem of the door zlh-which is joinedat its upper end by the bracket I90. to the draw rods It which project irom the motor mounting 3.

lnFigs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 there is illustrated a pair .of oppositely movabledoors 2lb and 25.

The two doors Z lb and 25 have a pair of longitudinally spaced rollers 3!) at their lower ends 1 which bear upon the floor or other surface to thereby support said doors for sliding movements thereover.

As shown in Fig. 1 there are provided a pair of rollers 25 and 25 at the upper ends of the doors Zlb and 25' which are cooperable between the longitudinally extending L shaped guide flanges 21 and 30', flange 21 being illustrated in Fig. 1.

The motor I joined to door Zlb is adapted to effect movement to the right or left of the door 2 lb whereas a pulley and ratchet arrangement is incorporated upon the door 25 for effecting simultaneous opposite movements of said door. It is understood that said motor is connected in an electric circuit not shown in the drawing.

' towards each other as shown in Fig.

The motor is of the reversible type whereby the doors may be moved to an open or closed position. The motor l as shown 'in Fig. 1 is supported by the upright parallel spaced plates or casing 3-3. "There is an I beam 23 secured to the ceiling of the enclosed space. Upon the lower flange of the I beam are journaled the rollers 5 and 50, each having a gear 4 which meshes with a gear to secured to rotatable shaft 40., Fig. 1, whichis Supported between the plates 3 on eachside of saidibeam. i

There is a housing [2 upon theouter face .of the motor-supporting casing 3 which encloses a sprocket gear 40 secured upon shaft 4a, a similar sprocket gear ld secured on power take-off shaft 42 and an interconnecting driving sprocket chain if. Shaft le extends from a suitable power takeofi housing lg which is joined to motor I so that the motor drive shaft is operatively connected to said power take-off shaft.

The forward edge of motor supporting casing 3.-3 has drawbars l8 joined by a pin 19c to the bracket lila secured to the forward edge of door 2 lb as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Upon closing the circuit to the electric motor, the latter and easing 3 are caused to travel along the rail 23 thereby moving door element Zlb to the left or right.

A pair of pulleys 24 and 29 are J'ournaled upon the inner wall of the door 25 in spaced relation, the pulley 29 including the ratchet wheelZa shown in Fig. 4 whereas the pulley 24 includes a similar ratchet wheel 24a.

The pawls 28 and 28a are pivotallymount'ed upon the door .25 for restraining engagement with the respective ratchet wheels of the pulleys 2i and 29, with said pawls being inclined inwardly The cable 20 has a weight'ZEd onone end,.' is wound around pulley 2t and extends to the left of Fig. 1 and over the pulley 22'which is suspended from the I beam 23. The Cane continues around the pulley 22 and to the rightyacross the door 25 and around the pulley 32 which is suspended from a stationary portion 30' of the building structure. The cable continues over the pulley 29, is wound therearound and has secured at its free end the weight 26a.

It will be noted that a portion of the cable 20 is secured to the power operated door 2lb by the attaching bracket 34.

In operation movement to the left of the door 2 lb under control of the motor I effects a similar movement to the left of the lower portion of the cable 20. The right end of cable 20 exerts a thrust to the right of the upper portion of the cable with respect to the pulley 29 which is restrained against rotation by its pawl 28a. Consequently this thrust to the right of said cable in effect draws the door 25' to the right whereas the opposite end of the cable 29 adjacent the door 2 lb projects around the pulley 22, with the upper portion of said cable moving to the right and winding around pulley 24 at the same time as the weight 26' on the end of said cable causes the same to unwind thereon moving downwardly. Thus a power operated movement of the door 21b to the left effects a similar movement to the right of the door 25 whereby the doors are opened.

To close the doors the motor I is energized for rotation in a reverse direction and the door Zlb moves to the right towards the closing position. This movement 'tothe right of door 2 it moves the lower portion of the cable 2t to the right, and the left end thereof extending around the pulley 22 exerts a thrust to the left upon the upper portion of said cable which is transmitted to the pulley 24. By virtue of the pawl 28 the said pulley is prevented from rotating with the result that this thrust to the left is transmitted through the pulley to the door moving the same to the left for closing the same. At the same time movement to the right of the door 2 lb causes the right end of the cable 29 to move around the pulley 32 and under the action of the weight 26a rewinds upon the pulley 29.

When door 2]?) moves to the left, there will be a thrust to the right of the upper portion or" cable which passes over pulley 32, as the pulley 29 is locked against rotation this thrust will cause a corresponding movement of the door The cable adjacent door 261) which passes around pulley 22 will move to the right and the slack in said cable will normally be taken up by the movement to the right of the door 25' with the weight Zta taking up any possible slack in the cable.

Pulleys 24 and 29 operate as cable take-up pulleys for keeping the cable taut. The separately operated pawls are intended to prevent rotation of the corresponding ratchet on said take-up pulleys in a direction opposite from the movement caused by the weights 23a.

On the reverse closing movement of door Hi) to the right, there will be a thrust to the left or" the upper portion of the cable 22 with respect to pulley 24. And as this pulley is retained against rotation, such thrust to the left wtil close door 25. The slack in the right end of the cable 29 produced by the closing of door Zib will be taken up generally by the upper portion of the cable 20 adjacent the pulley 20 as door 25 moves to closed position.

Having described my invention reference should now be had to the claims which follow for determining the scope thereof.

I claim:

1. in a building structure having a door opening, an upright door with floor engaging rollers for a portion of said opening, and power means for slidably opening and closing said door; a second upright door with floor engaging rollers for the remainder of said opening and aligned with said first door, a. series of pulleys on said second door and upon said building structure upon opposite sides of said opening, a. cable centrally joined to said first door with intermediate portions thereof extending around the pulleys on said structure and with outer portions thereof wound around the pulleys on said second door, said cable having free ends depending from said second door pulleys, weights upon said free ends, and means on said second door alternately restraining respectively said door pulleys against rotation on opening and closing movements respectively of said power driven door, whereby said doors will simultaneously open and close.

2. In a building structure having a door opening, an upright door with floor engaging rollers for a portion of said opening, and power means for slidably opening and closing said door; a second upright door with floor engaging rollers for the remainder of said opening and aligned with said first door, a pair of spaced cable takeup pulleys on said second door, additional pulleys upon said building structure upon opposite sides of said opening, a cable centrally joined to said first door with intermediate portions thereof extending around the pulleys on said structure and with outer portions thereof wound around the pulleys on said door respectively, said cable having free ends depending from said second door pulleys, weights upon said free ends, ratchet wheels on said door pulleys and rotatable therewith, and pawls inwardly and downwardly inclined towards each other and pivotally mounted upon said second door and alternately cooperable with said ratchet wheels to prevent rotation of one door pulley on opening movements of said first door and to prevent rotation of the other door pulley on closing movements of said first door, whereby said doors will simultaneously open and close.

HENRY F. MARTIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,145,881 Doyle July 13, 1915 1,594,513 Ainsworth Aug. 3, 1926 1,605,728 Hiltz Nov. 2, 1926 1,795,452 Smelser Mar. 10, 1931 1 88 ,015 Ayers Oct. i, 1932 1,952,681 P'eelle Mar. 27, 1934 2,303,263 Fisher Nov. 24, 1942 

